3 Ways to Approach Lead Scoring in Salesforce

Lead scoring was developed as a way to handle the influx of leads that businesses are seeing in light of the digital transformation. People now can become leads within a matter of seconds, which results in a massive number of potentials that need to be properly screened. Of course, when you’ve got thousands of leads, that becomes a process in and of itself. 

If you want to be sure that whoever is doing your sales outreach is only talking to leads that are relevant and that they’re connecting at the proper touchpoints in the journey, you need to utilize lead scoring. This will also help you engage each lead based on their customer profile and their specific needs. 

What is lead scoring?

Lead scoring is a method that allows you to qualify leads as they make their way through the buying cycle. Qualifications are made based on behavioral elements and profile characteristics, including things like the type of lead, their role, what their pain points are, and where they are in the sales funnel. Those who are further along will get a different score than those who are just getting started. 

This can help improve lead nurturing and hone in on the process that takes place through the sales funnel. Less important leads can be left for another day while the most valuable and highest-scoring leads can be addressed immediately. When you decide that a lead isn’t quite ready, you can identify new ways to nurture them to get them to the tipping point. 

You might even be able to identify those who are ready to buy, which means that they can be approached immediately and won’t be lost to the competition. It also means that they can be remarketed so that you can generate extra profits with little effort. Remarketing can make your ROI much higher and it can create that ever-necessary element for business success: customer retention and loyalty. 

How can Salesforce help?

Some people take an independent approach to lead scoring, while others will utilize the tools and software solutions that they have for other areas of their business. In any case, it’s important to develop lead-scoring practices that work for your business. Salesforce isn’t the only option; they do have a few different ways that you can make the most of your lead-scoring efforts. 

Salesforce is one of the most popular and powerful CRM platforms available today. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and these platforms are integral to managing customers, including existing clients and new leads. These tools include robust software to streamline operations, improve day-to-day tasks, and make the customer experience more successful all around. 

Of course, Salesforce is so much more than just a CRM. It has plenty of extensions, add-ons, and integrations that will allow you to make it a total solution for running your business. And while many people are abandoning AI-generated lead scoring models like those found in Salesforce in favor of their own independent strategies, not everyone has that kind of time and ability. 

Here are three ways to handle lead scoring with your Salesforce platform. 

Einstein scoring 

Salesforce promotes the use of the Einstein scoring model, which analyzes past leads to determine what current leads have in common with them. The default setup scores leads using a variety of lead fields but admins can change the fields to include only what is necessary. It creates a predictive model for your company, reanalyzing the leads every 10 days to refresh scores and keep you updated on trends. 

Salesforce has a great help article that explains the details of how Einstein scoring works. In your dashboard, the Einstein Score field will show up in your list view and provide you with the top factors impacting the score, including:

• Industry
• Location
• Department
• Revenue
• Lead source

This will help you rank leads and follow up accordingly, even if you aren’t doing the lead scoring manually. It’s also a great way to ensure that everyone across the organization knows where each lead stands and which ones require the most attention. You can also get information on conversion rates by lead scores, lead score distribution, and more. 

Product-led growth (PLG)

Another way to score leads is by product-led growth rather than tracking the actual sales process and customer journey. You have to get creative and engage in robust scoring models that follow your process. Those companies that don’t have a sequential buying journey will benefit more from lead scoring, allowing them to embrace their PLG goals and create a proven track record of repeat business. 

Instead of focusing on the individual leads and scoring here, most companies will have a product-based scoring model that helps them see where clients are coming from for certain products or services. This can anticipate and inform your specific product marketing efforts and help you draw in business to one part of the company or another. Product-led growth is at the heart of business, but that product must address and resolve pain points for your audience, or it will not be successful. 

Independent scoring options 

With Salesforce or any other platform, you also have the option to come up with your lead scoring methods and calculations. This can help you identify who needs attention and what type of attention they require. There are third-party platforms that you can use that will help you create your own lead-scoring models or utilize their models to build a strategy that works for you. 

Some of the most popular independent tools that you can use include:

• Salespanel
• Freshsales
• 6sense Revenue AI
• Slintel
• Salesmate
• HubSpot
• Zoho CRM

You can also find a host of CRMs that have their own lead-scoring methods and tools available outside of the Salesforce family, depending on what you need. 

While you’re scoring leads, who’s fielding calls?

Keeping tabs on lead generation and intake has become a full-time job. Fortunately, when you partner with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai, you can get assistance with everything from outreach campaigns to appointment scheduling and so much more. Contact us at hello@smith.ai or schedule a consultation to learn more. 

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